Cerebral Palsy
Dictionary: “Cerebral Palsy - noun. A disorder
usually caused by brain damage occurring at or
before birth and marked by muscular impairment.
Often accompanied by poor coordination, it
sometimes involves speech and learning diffi culties.”
One with Cerebral Palsy: Cerebral Palsyblessing.
An alteration given to a person and
in turn gives the person the power of change.
To a doctor, Cerebral Palsy means just another
day on the job. To a teacher, Cerebral Palsy means
more work to fi t the student’s modifi cations. To a
teenager, Cerebral Palsy means wondering what
is wrong with that person… But to me Cerebral
Palsy means just another hurdle that requires
just a little bit more force needed to jump over it.
I was diagnosed with Mild Cerebral Palsy just
after my fi rst birthday. Since then I have faced
many different kinds of obstructions that just
need to be moved to the side of the road… the
road to triumph. During my fi fteen years of life,
I have been confronted with bullying, mocking,
defeat and torment in all ways shapes and forms,
but the way I look at things it has only made my
life better. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ve also
had many accomplishments come my way. For
example, in the 7th grade, I was elected Vice
President of the Student Council, in the 8th grade
I received the Presidents Volunteer Service Hour
Award for earning over two-hundred service hours.
Also during my 8th grade year I was also able to
appear in a commercial for a museum where I
volunteer, and most recently, I was elected 1st Vice
President of the Class of 2009. To coincide with
all of that, I am also in the Nations 2nd best High
School Marching Band; The Ronald Reagan High
School Marching Band. But I personally believe
that being a teenager with Cerebral Palsy has only
helped me achieve such great accomplishments.
To a normal person, the thought of having CP just
makes them think of how horrifi c their life would
be. But to someone who suffers from CP, they think
of it not as an impairment but of fortuitous blessing.
It teaches them to persevere through things, to not
let anything stand in the way of achieving their
goals; it teaches them to not let something so small
ruin a beautiful day. But most importantly, it teaches
them that life is not all that bad, and at the end of the
